The Privatization of (Women’s) Education Gal Harmat Gal Harmat with an Economic Analysis of the privatizing process taking place in Israel, and the actual effects it bears for young women

According to the Israeli government 2001 Report of the committee for
women status in Israel, in the year 2000, women were 45.44% of the labor force
in Israel, of whom only 15.8% held full time jobs, compared to 34.1% of the men.
Women's average monthly salary was 60.18% of that of men. The average
wage-per-hour was 80.5% of that of men. Among Arab population, the participation
of women in labor force was significantly lower - only 22% of the women have
participate, while the rate of unemployment was higher than among the Jewish
population, rating at 11.7%. The average salary of Arab women was 71% of that of
Jewish women.

In
general, women in Israel usually work in the lower-paid occupations like
services, education, health, welfare, and clerical positions (Blue and pink
Collar trades), while they are considerably under-represented in the prestigious
and profitable white collar trades such as hi-tech, high management roles,
engineering and the like. It is said that the education system in Israel has
full gender equality, and if indeed considered from the perspective of the
amount of years attending school, among the Jewish population of Israel there is
no educational gap between men and women[1][1]. Nevertheless, much more boys then girls study in the
scientific-technological and other tracks that prepares and channels them to
well-earning professions. Another mesmerizing fact is that while women earn 57%
of all academic degrees, and although 46% of the doctoral students are women,
still, only 22% of senior faculty members and 7.8% of full professors are
women[1][2]. Add to that the common perception among the public and
decision makers that women's salary is to be considered as a second salary,
therefore a lower one, even in the occasions when they earn more and are equally
or more educated than their spouse, and you would see that education, considered
as a crucial factor and tool for achieving social and economic mobilization,
seems to be not functioning as expected when it comes to women in
Israel.

The Education System case: equality without
equity

The
process of privatization in Israel started after the failure of the Oslo Peace
Accord in 1999-2000. Up until then Israel functioned as a welfare state to a
high degree. With the privatization process, the social democracy in Israel is
being slowly abolished, and the state remains neither social nor
democratic.

Until 2000, all citizens of Israel enjoyed access for free public
education, ensured and protected by law, including empowerment programs for poor
and marginalized populations. As part of the new reform, Israeli municipalities
started leading a new system that had been crowned the appalling name The Self
Management of schools .

This very nicely put term actually meant that school principles were now
also assigned the work of company directors, having to raise funds for their
school on their own and taking care of a balance budget, as if school is
functioning as a business. Simultaneously, in addition to the Self Management
process, Israel initiated another new policy: instead of distributing recourses
according to each school's particular needs, the education ministry decided on
equal distribution of resources to schools according to the number of students
each school had, neglecting other parameters all
together.

These new policies created a situation where, although basic education is
still free, in wealthy areas, mainly in the center, when a school ran out of
funds, parents were asked to pay for their children's education. In other
places, where parents could not afford to pay, the students received much less
class hours, no field trips, and lower standard of education, although they were
funded equally . When the standard of education was lowered, more students
dropped out, and the schools now received even fewer funds in areas where more
investment in education was actually needed.

Commercialization of
education

As
part of the self management and self fund-raising policy, schools in Israel were
suggested to rent their property (classrooms, gyms etc') in after school hours
and school vacations. In the center of Israel, where prices are high and people
are traditionally wealthy, the renting business went very well. Many workshops
and night courses for adults and adolescents rent the empty classrooms and halls
for very high prices.

However, in the periphery, where poverty is a fact of life, it was much
more difficult for the schools to rent their rooms for different private
companies, and when they did succeed, it was for much less. In addition, in
these neighborhoods children usually do not have many playgrounds and usually
use the schoolyards in the afternoons instead. Now, when school is rented, even
this opportunity is being denied of them, and they are out on the streets.
Concerned parents, especially women and single mothers, had to stay at home
during after school hours to look after their children, thus having their
possibilities for making a living narrowed down.

Privet companies that wanted to promote products could now donate money
to schools and, in return, to have their commercial advertisements presented at
school grounds, even inside classes. Of course, most companies preferred to
advertise their market goods in wealthy schools located in the center. Since
less economically appealing, schools in poor areas had to agree to have classes
taught by commercial companies representatives, teaching the students, as part
of actual school curricula, about their companies
products.

It has
been shown that commercials basic work assumption is to make people believe that
there is something fundamentally wrong with them, that they lack something.
Advertisements effect girls and women more then men by weakening their, already
lowered by society, self-esteem and self-confidence. Therefore, they feel as if
they need to consume more then men, sometime just in order to be a good woman -
whether a traditional housewife or a modern feminist, there is always something
lacking. That is well portrayed in Betty Friedan strong words, 'If they are [TV
advertisements] not responsible for sending women home, they are surely
responsible for keeping them there' [1][3][1][4].

Since showing successful results in achieving the self management goals,
at least where it did, this process of commercialization of education, with the
comodification of schools grounds and curriculum and the apparent gender bias,
was not questioned and was accepted as legitimate and adequate by teachers,
school principles and the Education Ministry experts who advise and assist them.

The Gender
Perspective

With the new self management program, the Israeli government has actually
triggered the creation of a gray education system, that allowed parents who can
afford it to buy quality education for their children, while parents with fewer
economic means have to compromise on schools and standard of education that will
not allow their children the option of entering the higher educational
system.

The
privatization reform has affected all the students in the periphery, but girls
were effected even more then boys. Girls are, traditionally, moving to live with
their husband after getting married, while sometimes even moving in and living
with his family. Boys, on the other hand, are traditionally staying a part of
their nuclear family, giving support and helping with the livelihood, even when
moving out of the house. The students in the commercialized classes are mainly
female students, since the school invests more formal education hours in boys.
Both the school and the companies, with the support of the families, see girls
as potential wives; therefore, formal, good education is not considered as
necessary for them, but rather a house-wife-consumerism
education.

For
that reason, it makes more sense for poor families with very limited resources
to invest in the education of their boys then in the education of their girls.
Parents who have financial difficulties are often prone not to invest in their
girls education, putting much more for their boys education. Girls are perceived
as a lost investment, a waste of money, since they will marry a man and his
family will benefit from that. The opportunity for a cheap, though less formal,
education for girls offered by schools, is making young women ignorant,
uneducated and not prepared for higher education. This way, the state of Israel
is actually responsible for the exclusion of the next generation of possible
women academicians, politicians and independent
businesswomen.

Is that a story of success?

The
economic gap between the rich and the poor in Israel has deepened during recent
years (2000-2003). 16% of the women in Israel live now days in poverty, compared
to 14% of the men. The difference may lie in the fact that most single families
are those of single women.

Having sometimes to choose between basic needs like food and education,
people in poor neighborhoods were not able now to send their children to extra
curriculum activities, which were given free of charge in these neighborhoods up
until the self-management reform, as part of a program of community empowerment
of the peripheries. Nevertheless, since the standard of education in the
central, wealthy, schools has risen during the first year of the program, it was
declared a success, although the standard of education in the poor areas schools
dropped severely. Privatization, it has been shown, according to its advocators,
can work. Two years into the process, children from the poor schools could
hardly even apply for high schools in the center, due to the extra
costs.

Summery

Israel should invest in equal education for boys and girls by promoting
equity according to one's needs and not by advocating equality per capita that
suppress poor populations education and on top of that women's
education.

Bibliography:

- The Israeli government (2001), the committee for women
status in Israel, 2001 Report, Israel.